At 11, your son should talk to the coaches. You can help prep him, but he should be the one doing the talking.

When my DD was moved down a team she talked to her coaches about what skills she needs to work on. She said she wanted to make it back on to the better team, she recognized she didn't do as much work outside of practices as she should have and that what she was working on wasn't necessarily what she should have been. The coaches were great, told her what she should be working on. She spoke with the coaches of her new team as well, and asked them what they were looking for. She made a commitment to putting in more out of practice time, including going to her old team's games when she could and asking old teammates to practice with her.

It was not easy. For a kid, that's a lot of dealing with things in a mature, productive way. She was embarrassed and her first instinct was to hide from everyone but I just supported her and let her know she didn't have to play the sport, and if she did play the sport it didn't matter to me what level she played at. If it mattered to her, there were steps she could take to be the sort of player coaches at the level she wanted to play were looking for.

After all this, my DD did not get moved back up a team. A couple months into her plan to do more practice outside of practice she realized she just didn't love doing it that much, and she made peace with being on the lower level team. I think if she had kept working hard outside of practice, she could have made it. But her inclination to just practice at practice sort of tells you where she belongs. We're lucky to have options for kids who want more than rec, but aren't living and breathing the sport like some kids on the top teams.

OP, talk to the coaches and ask why he is being moved down.

Is he practicing on his own outside of regular practice? By U11, serious players are either working with a private trainer, have a parent training them at home, or have a practice routine they are doing on their own (or doing some extra clinics).

Kids who are not doing any of the above and just show up to practice will fall behind.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Find a new club or go back to rec. it isn't worth the time or money. Was your son mainly on the bench?

Spot on, your club is sending message to you and more importantly your son, and you're not receiving it...

So is the message that my son is just not a good player? Honestly, it feels like a punishment for him, especially because he’s the only kid moving down.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s his age?

He’s 11

2007

For an 11 year old it is a teachable moment. Did he always give it his best. Did he work on things outside practice. It is an opportunity to be a leader. It sucks, it will be hard but life isn’t fair etc. I would not move him just because he dropped down.

Wrong, at that age the reasons could be far ranging, and not necessarily sporting one's.

Anonymous wrote:Find a new club or go back to rec. it isn't worth the time or money. Was your son mainly on the bench?

Spot on, your club is sending message to you and more importantly your son, and you're not receiving it...

My son was moved from A to B his first year mid-season. It definitely was a blow to his confidence but the new team turned out to be a better fit. This year a few kids from the B team moved to C. I think the parents were more upset than the kids. At the same time, a few kids who had worked really hard on the C team moved up to B. We’re waiting on results currently and I think my son is the one who might be moved down for next season. He didn’t put a lot of effort in outside of practices and some of the kids who started off weaker did. They have now surpassed him.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s his age?

He’s 11

2007

For an 11 year old it is a teachable moment. Did he always give it his best. Did he work on things outside practice. It is an opportunity to be a leader. It sucks, it will be hard but life isn’t fair etc. I would not move him just because he dropped down.

agree with PP. This sort of thing will tell you both how serious he is about soccer. If he wants to try to climb back up, get him some extra training. Still plenty of time to get back. it is possible to make this work in his favor if he is motivated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s his age?

He’s 11

2007

For an 11 year old it is a teachable moment. Did he always give it his best. Did he work on things outside practice. It is an opportunity to be a leader. It sucks, it will be hard but life isn’t fair etc. I would not move him just because he dropped down.

Anonymous wrote:What’s his age?

He’s 11

2007

What’s his age?

Anonymous wrote:Find a new club or go back to rec. it isn't worth the time or money. Was your son mainly on the bench?

No. He played a lot. However, the team was small so we had usually only one or two subs. This was a new club for him this year and I hate to keep changing. But, I worry about the social ramifications. He’s likely to be the only kid who drops down to a lower team. I don’t care about the c team part. I care about how he’s going to feel when he realizes he’s the only kid moving down. He does not play rec. should I really change teams?

Find a new club or go back to rec. it isn't worth the time or money. Was your son mainly on the bench?

I’m sorry. It sucks but sometimes the new team is better than the old one. And he may be starting if he is one of the better kids.

Ugh. My son is going to be so upset as the majority of his teammates are staying on the B team. The C team is new this year so there will be a lot of new kids. How to soften the blow? Are there any advantages? I’m worried that he won’t play as hard. Parents who have BTDT please chime in!